Omny Studio 'first' to get statistics from Apple's Podcasts app

Melbourne-based Omny have announced what they claim is a world first - listening data captured from Apple's Podcasts app. The app, which is the default for listening to podcasts on Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch products, is responsible for the majority of podcast listening, but hitherto it hasn't been possible to check consumption data from it.

The press release, below, gives few details of how it's done, but it offers "approximate understanding of verified plays, skip and drop-off points from a previously untrackable sample of Apple Podcast listeners" - note that it uses a sample, and the use of the word "approximate".

An accompanying graphic appears to show that 30% of Apple Podcast plays are now visible to Omny, which is a good sample size.

Press release

Omny Studio has announced a major upgrade to their podcast analytics package to include listening data captured from Apple’s Podcasts app. This latest update to their podcast hosting platform will give professional content makers a world-first insight into how their podcasts are consumed through iPhones.

The team has pioneered a new way to capture listening data from the world’s most widely used podcast player, so you can get an approximate understanding of verified plays, skip and drop-off points from a previously untrackable sample of Apple Podcast listeners.

"Apple commands 80% of podcast listening and we used to have no idea what was happening once the show went to the listeners device,” said Head of Content, Matt Saraceni, “so being able to see if a podcast was actually listened to and not just downloaded is going to be an absolute game changer.”

Earlier this year, the platform announced a revolution in podcasting technology, providing their customers with listening data captured from embedded website players or mobile apps via an Android and iOS SDK. Through the Omny Studio analytics dashboard, content makers can prove and see the parts of their content being heard by their audience. This new upgrade allows the same kind of data to be captured without needing to control the player on the listeners device.

“We’ve been researching and developing this system for a while, and have recently been evaluating it with our audience listening through the Apple Podcasts app,” said Omny Studio’s CTO, Andrew Armstrong. “We have now reached a stage in our R&D that is producing positive and exciting results. We will be able to offer more insight into podcast listening than ever before.”

Consumption analytics for Apple Podcasts will be available for Omny Studio customers later this year. The team is also exploring and developing support for other mainstream podcast apps.